Gaining Confidence
by White Weasel
Summary: Ayumu needs a little bit of a boost; luckily Hozumi can give that to him.
**AN: I have fallen into the pairing of Ayuzumi and I had to write something for it. This is just something that I really quickly jotted down. I wasn't really sure what genres or what summary to write for this so I just kinda went with my gut instinct. All you really need to know is that this story takes place during episode 4. I'm also not very confident in my romance writing skills so I didn't try to make it super romantic, but I hope that I still did enough with the pairing... Anyways, please enjoy the fic!**

"One more time!" Ayumu slowly got up from the ground and rubbed his arm, a bruise already starting to form from his falls earlier in practice. Hozumi gave him a skeptical look.

"That's what you said ten minutes ago. Ayumu, don't you think you should call it a night? It's getting pretty late and we have to leave for our next match tomorrow..." He glanced at the gimmick that the green haired boy had yet to clear. Sure, Ayumu had gotten close, but his feet always ended up getting caught or he didn't have enough power behind his jump.

"I know, but I just really want to do this." Kadowaki was already in position to begin running at the obstacle again. Hozumi simply sighed in reply.

"Tuck your feet in when you're in the air. Then extend them forward after you've pushed off the gimmick with your hands." Ayumu nodded, indicating that he had heard the advice and began running. He jumped into the air, tucking his legs in as he had been instructed. He cleared the top of the gimmick and a wide smile broke out on his face. However, he was too caught up in his triumph and forgot to properly extend his legs. This caused him to fall forward on what would have been his face had his arms not shot out and saved him at the last moment.

"Woah Ayumu! You okay?" Kohinata asked in concern as he jogged over to his teammate.

"Yeah," Ayumu winced as he used his arms to push himself off the gym floor. "I'm not seriously hurt or anything." He held out his arms as if to prove a point.

"Thank goodness it wasn't anything worse." Hozumi said letting out a sigh of relief. "Now, let's get changed and get going."

"I was really hoping to clear the jump..." The two then began walking to the boy's locker room. They were changed within five minutes and exited the building. They walked next to each other, the street lamps providing them enough light to see each other in the dark night. After a few minutes of silence, Ayumu spoke up.

"Hozumi, do you really think we're ready for our next match?" The spectacled boy focused all his attention on his feet as he asked this question, preventing him from seeing the look of surprise on Hozumi's face.

"We've all practiced the best that we can and I'm sure we can beat the other team!" Ayumu stopped as these words left the other boy's mouth.

"...I'm just slowing you guys down aren't I?"

"Wha- Ayumu? Where's all this coming from?"

"You saw me back there!" Ayumu exclaimed. "I couldn't even jump over some simple mats. It's no secret that I'm definitely not the fastest runner at Honan. All of you guys are eons ahead of me. Maybe I should have just stuck with shogi..." Ayumu once again averted his eyes to the ground.

Hozumi's eyes softened. "Ayumu…" Without much of a warning the blond pulled the slightly taller boy into a hug. "Ayumu, without you we wouldn't even have a Stride team." Ayumu sat still in the embrace, almost as if he were too shocked to reciprocate it.

"Not much of a team with me on it." He attempted to joke, but his voice wavered.

Hozumi withdrew from the hug so he could look into Ayumu's green eyes. "Ayumu, I don't know what the team would do without you. I mean who would teach Riku how to play shogi or stop Takeu from stealing other people's signature phrases?" This made Ayumu crack a small smile.

"I don't know. I mean, _you_ didn't even know how to play shogi before I showed you." Hozumi went back in for another hug and this time Kadowaki returned it loosely.

"In all seriousness," Hozumi said, still holding onto the other boy. "You really have improved. I mean, I remember when you first started Stride when you couldn't even run 100 meters before getting winded." He pulled back and slid his hand into Ayumu's. "I'm really proud of you."

Ayumu's face began to heat up a bit and he scratched at his cheek in embarrassment. "Really?" Kohinata nodded confidently. "Well, I guess when you put it like that…" Hozumi gave a small smile and gave the other boy's hand a light squeeze.

"C'mon, we should be getting home. We need our rest for tomorrow!" The two then began to walk, neither letting go of the other's hand.

"Hey, Hozumi…"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you." Kohinata turned to Ayumu at those words and gave him a huge smile.

"Anytime." The blond then adopted a playfully determined expression on his face. "Now promise me that you're going to kill it against Mihashi in two days!" Ayumu gave a small laugh.

"I promise."


End file.
